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An exhilarating reinvention of the gothic novel, inspired by the iconic characters of our greatest myths and nightmares.
The body of a young girl is found mangled and murdered in the woods of Hemlock Grove, Pennsylvania, in the shadow of the abandoned Godfrey Steel mill. A manhunt ensues—though the authorities aren’t sure if it’s a man they should be looking for.
Some suspect an escapee from the White Tower, a foreboding biotech facility owned by the Godfrey family—their personal fortune and the local economy having moved on from Pittsburgh steel—where, if rumors are true, biological experiments of the most unethical kind take place. Others turn to Peter Rumancek, a Gypsy trailer-trash kid who has told impressionable high school classmates that he’s a werewolf. Or perhaps it’s Roman, the son of the late JR Godfrey, who rules the adolescent social scene with the casual arrogance of a cold-blooded aristocrat, his superior status unquestioned despite his decidedly freakish sister, Shelley, whose monstrous medical conditions belie a sweet intelligence, and his otherworldly control freak of a mother, Olivia.
At once a riveting mystery and a fascinating revelation of the grotesque and the darkness in us all, Hemlock Grove has the architecture and energy to become a classic in its own right—and Brian McGreevy the talent and ambition to enthrall us for years to come.
"A wonderfully creative and twisted reinvention of classic monster archetypes, wrapped up in a mysterious thriller. I loved it. Brian McGreevy is a welcome new voice in horror literature, but be warned: it's not for the faint of heart, or stomach." —Eli Roth, director of Hostel
“This is . . . horror with a respect for its literary antecedents.” —Yvonne Zipp, The Washington Post
Brian McGreevy grew up near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and received his MFA from the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas. Now a screenwriter who has had two screenplays featured on the best of the year Black List, he is working on an adaptation of Dracula for Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company. He lives in Los Angeles.
Something Happened
The lone wolf howls to rejoin the pack from which he is separated. But why does the pack howl when no wolf is lost?
Isn’t it obvious?
Because there is no other way to say it.
* * *
The night after the Harvest Moon, the body was discovered. It was nearing October and the sun was still hot, but the leaves were falling now with intention and every night was colder. Peter was walking home from the bus stop when he saw the flashing light of a fire truck up at Kilderry Park. He wondered if there had been an accident. Peter, who was seventeen at the time of which I’m writing, liked accidents: modern times were just so fucking structured. He saw in addition to the fire truck a few cop cars and an ambulance, but no signs of wreckage. He turned his head in passing, but there was nothing more to see beyond the norm. Two of the cops combing the area by the swings he knew; they’d hassled him a couple of times in that kind of obligatory cop way that, in Peter’s experience, every uniform was an SS uniform. Probably some junkie had OD’d or something. There was that bum who hung out around here, an old black guy with yellow and black teeth and one dead eye that looked like a dirty marble who might not have been old, really. Peter had given him a light once, but no change. Better that paid for his own drugs. His interest flagged. Old black junkie kicks it it’s no more news than chance of rain tomorrow. Then he heard it, one sentence. No sign of a weapon, Sheriff. Peter looked again but there was no more to see than a milling cluster of uniforms by the tree line and he put his hands in his pockets and went on.
He had a bad feeling.
Nicolae had always told him that he had been born with an unusually receptive Swadisthana chakra and that underneath the surfaces of things, the illusion of the illusion, there is a secret, sacred frequency of the universe and that the Swadisthana was the channel through which it would sing to you. And the Swadisthana being located of course just behind the balls, he should always always trust his balls. Peter did not know what it was, but something about the scene in Kilderry Park had his balls in a state of agitation.
When he got home he told his mother, “Something happened.”
“Hmm?” she said. She was smoking a joint and watching a quiz show. The trailer was warm and smelled sweet, pot and baked apple. “Hummingbird!” she yelled suddenly, in response to the question What is the only bird that can fly backwards.
He told her what he saw. He told her he had a bad feeling.
“Why?” she said.
“I don’t know, I just do,” he said.
She was thoughtful. “Well, there’s cobbler,” she said.
He went to the kitchen. She asked if he’d been in town.
“Yeah,” he said.
She emptied his backpack of items so small and modest it could hardly be considered stealing while Peter scraped the tar of sugar at the edge of the cobbler and tried to shake this feeling. The feeling that whatever had happened in Kilderry Park was no good. And not in some greater existential sense but no good with his number on it. There was a coffee mug on the counter with the comic strip character Cathy on it and a small chip the shape of a shark’s tooth that held loose change. He dipped his hand in the mug and went to the door and scattered a handful of coins on the stone path out front.
“Why did you do that?” said Lynda.
Peter shrugged. He had done it because he wanted to hear something dissonant and beautiful.
“You are one strange customer, you know that?” said Lynda.
“Yeah,” said Peter.
Copyright © 2012 by Brian McGreevy
Anonymous
Posted April 24, 2013
Don't quite understand, why these (book and series) get such negative reviews. I enjoyed reading this, due to the fact that it was actually written with words even middle school students should know. You must have more than a "LOL, :)" vocabulary to comprehend what is written. The story line could have been less predictable, not to say there wasn't an instance or two that caught me off guard. Overall, loved the characters and plot. Hope there's more to come!
8 out of 8 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 22, 2013
To the reader who posted on March 22. I suspect the book was either written for or from the original netflix series screenplay. The series is great if the preternatural genre is of taste to you.
Setting one's self up to compare one author to another is like comparing the flavor of strawberries and steak and expecting them to be the same. You are going to be disappionted. They are totally different.
If that's the way you choose your reading matierial, you may be constantly in that state.
Good luck. Oh, I would greatly suggest the series. Aside from what some of the critics may print it is phenominal.
8 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 29, 2013
Just watched the entire series on Netflix. Wow it blew my mind away. Cant wait for season 2.... Still trying to wrap my mind on so many unanswered questions....
7 out of 12 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 22, 2013
I'm not completely finished with the book and am not sure I will finish it. The beginning seemed interesting and had a bit of a hook, but as i've continued, the characters are not well developed and at times sentences simply don't make sense. Much of the dialogue seems stilted and awkward....plus some rather unbelievable turn of events. If you enjoy Stephen King's writing, as I do, this doesn't come close. Sorry.
5 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 29, 2013
I have started watching the Netflix series and that was very good so far decided to purchase the ebook and see if it is up to par with the Netflix series then I will come back and rate the book too!
hope the book will not let me down....
2 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 25, 2013
To whomever posted about this before, asking about the show: the series is based off the book, it says so in the opening credits, if you watch it all the way through :3. The show on netflix is amazing though, i am addicted to it..my boyfriend and i watch it together<3 I wish i had money for the book though, it'd be nice to get some hemlock grove action during school xD
2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 20, 2013
So far, I am not impressed with what I have read. The sentence structure is awkward and often hard to follow. At times the word choice does not make sense. The story does not flow well. There are places where better transition is needed . The characters are underdeveloped and he relies too heavily on metaphors.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted June 14, 2013
Follows the series very closely. I enjoyed it.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 14, 2013
Haven't read the book yet.
1 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
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Posted June 17, 2013
Awesome!
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Posted May 10, 2013
Watching hemlock grove and it is a good show cant wait for more episodes and seasons
0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 10, 2013
?
0 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 21, 2013
Its on netflix and it said it was a original. They give no credit.
0 out of 18 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 22, 2013
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Posted March 28, 2013
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Posted March 20, 2013
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Posted April 23, 2013
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Posted May 17, 2013
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Posted April 8, 2013
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Overview
An exhilarating reinvention of the gothic novel, inspired by the iconic characters of our greatest myths and nightmares.
The body of a young girl is found mangled and murdered in the woods of Hemlock Grove, Pennsylvania, in the shadow of the abandoned Godfrey Steel mill. A manhunt ensues—though the authorities aren’t sure if it’s a man they should be looking for.
Some suspect an escapee from the White Tower, a foreboding biotech facility owned ...